The capacity problem at Chase Field; farm report; & other stuff

Just in time for
Baseball season! That's because the company runs both Chase Field and the US
Airways Center.<br />For more info, go
to:http://www.nba.com/suns/contact/careers<br />
<br />
(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Tags

After a packed-house in Monday's home opener, the vastness of Chase Field was on display over the following three days this week, when attendance dipped from 48,000 to the 18,000-19,000 range in the rest of the Giants series.

The empty confines raise a question: Is there anything the Diamondbacks can do -- that is, short of getting more people out to the park? Can they somehow reduce the capacity of the ballpark, either with a structural change or by blocking out seats?

For now, Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall says the answer is no.

"It's obviously a concern of ours and we would love to have a smaller capacity but there's no solution right now," Hall said. "I'm totally opposed to tarps. I don't like that. I don't like the look. There are games like Opening Day when you're going to fill the place, but until we can come up with a long-term solution that's within our financial reach, we're not going to do anything."

Since they're not going to tarp off seats, as they do in Oakland, what options does that leave the Diamondbacks? Hall mentioned two possibilities to deal with an oversized park.

1. At Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, the Orioles reduced capacity in 2011 by installing wider seats at the club level, going from 48,290 to 45,971. Hall said the Diamondbacks have considered doing that for the upper deck.

"That would make it more of an amenity upstairs -- a larger, more comfortable seat," Hall said. "We've looked at it. It could reduce capacity by 4,000 seats, and then you're making the people upstairs feel like they're not just second-class citizens. But we try to do that already, having the same concessions as downstairs, sending Rally Backs up there. That might be a solution."

2. Another possibility, one the Diamondbacks haven't yet looked at closely, is what the Rockies have done at Coors Field. In the upper deck in right field, the Rockies cleared out 3,500 seats to create a 38,000-square-foot restaurant and bar area. The Chicago White Sox did something similar at U.S. Cellular Park.

Hall said he hoped to speak with Rockies owner Dick Monfort about the specifics of their renovation, which reportedly cost $10 million.

It would be interesting if the Diamondbacks followed the Rockies lead in decreasing capacity; it was the Rockies' model the Diamondbacks followed when making Chase Field (formerly Bank One Ballpark) as large as they made it in the mid-1990s.

"I think today if I were to build a stadium I'd probably want it to be 42,000," Hall said. "I think that's probably perfect. Some new ones are 38,000 to 42,000, and that seems to be the number. There are times you wish it was larger, like on Opening Day or in the postseason, but you have to think about those other games in the middle that really make the difference. You want to have a real home field advantage and the feel of a packed house. In order to do that, you've got to be a number lower than 50,000, especially in our market. If you're in Los Angeles or New York, you can do that."

***

Farm report

Triple-A Reno: The Aces fell behind early on Thursday, with RHP Alex Sanabia giving up six runs on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings, and dropped their opener against El Paso. They bounced back on Friday, getting 6 2/3 shutout innings from RHP Mike Bolsinger. RHP Zeke Spruill, working out of the bullpen, went 1 2/3 innings for the save.

Double-A Mobile: 3B Jake Lamb homered and walked and Mobile got six dominant innings from RHP Chase Anderson on Thursday. His line: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K. As always, the key for Anderson this season: Staying healthy. The BayBears won again on Friday, with LF David Peralta delivering three hits, including a homer.

High-A Visalia: LHP Andrew Barbosa struck out 11 in five innings on Thursday but took the loss, as the Rawhide managed just one run on four hits. They won on Friday, a game in which 3B Brandon Drury went deep. RHP Jimmie Sherfy struck out two in a clean ninth inning.

Low-A South Bend: RHP Aaron Blair struck out 10 and walked none in six innings, but he took the loss on Thursday, giving up five runs on six hits, including a grand slam in the third inning. The Silver Hawks scored three runs in the top of the ninth but lost in the bottom of the inning on a wild pitch. C Michael Perez had two hits and two walks. He also had two hits in the first game.